After the moaning, Tesla made some changes

Tesla apparently listened to all the bitching and complaining. Just noticed that the Premium packaged announced a couple of days ago for $5,000 has been reduced to $3,000. Certainly more reasonable when you add the previous cost of the Alcantara headliner and Nappa leather. Still not crazy about the liftgate being included in that package, but with Tesla's "round up to a $1,000" pricing philosophy for most items, the liftgate option alone, if they offered it separately, likely would have been a $1,000 option. So for another $2,000, you get better leather, better headline, lighting, etc...Pricing is more than reasonable when compared to previous prices for all of it.

Nice spot. I also notice that there have been some changes to the available colours!

SILVER IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

(i.e. the colour my car is)

BASIC (free) WHITE IS NO LONGER AVAILABLE.

They renamed some of the colours.

The only way you can get the car in white now, is the $1,500 Multi-Coat White option.

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I also noticed that silver 21" wheel option is not available. It's quite possible we're in the middle of another site re-vamp. I find it hard to believe they'd get rid of the silver 21" wheels but continue to offer the darker-coloured 21" wheels.

I also noticed that silver 21" wheel option is not available. It's quite possible we're in the middle of another site re-vamp. I find it hard to believe they'd get rid of the silver 21" wheels but continue to offer the darker-coloured 21" wheels.

The wood interior options are up from $500 to $750. Carbon fiber is up from $800 to $1,000.

This all said and done, I can still put together a seriously desirable car for a lot less than the price I paid, so I am happy with what they've done. I'd be happy with an 85D, versus the P85 I have now. My configuration would be $94,000 versus the $102,000 I actually paid, and the 85D would have longer range, second-generation seats, autopilot hardware, parcel shelf and all-wheel-drive - pretty nice!

Even though the 85D doesn't accelerate as fast as the P85 in the dry, it accelerates faster in the wet, and doesn't weave all over the place when you plant your foot - it's perfectly stable under heavy acceleration. Not sure that has been made perfectly clear yet.

I'd call the new car better than the P85, not just equivalent.

One more point - I am glad to see that the penalty for after-purchase installation of autopilot software is only $500. I'm not interested in the autopilot software at this point, there is too much "first generation" feel to it, and of course it isn't all implemented yet. I would be happy to pay $3,000 later, and lower my cost of entry.

Only thing to point out is that I'm not actually going to buy an 85KWh car... it's obvious that larger batteries are on the roster by EOY2015 and I will want to wait until they are announced. But still, simply saying "Tesla are putting prices up" isn't technically correct.

I guess.... Lol...damn Tesla changing prices and options like evey other month

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Every other month?? Hell, try every other DAY!! Three days ago we had one set of colors. The next day we had three new colors added. Two days after that, we lost three original colors!! You can barely drive a Tesla home faster than Tesla makes changes to them, let alone to try and actually order one for delivery in 2-3 months. By the time you receive it, it's an antique!!

Personally, I think Tesla should just offer their four models with no options. Choose your color, interior color and 19 or 21 inch wheels and be done. Raise the price around $5,000 or $6,000 and just include everything. For the most part, they already do as half of the options are already in the car, just have to be enabled via software updates. This would steamline their assembly line and save them a ton of money, which they could then pass on some of those savings to the consumer by charging only $5,000 or $6,000 more than current prices for a fully loaded car.

As it is now, resale value on options is horrible. Out of curiosity, I checked value on Black Book. The only option it asked about was 21 inch wheels. That $4,500 new option added a whopping $1,000 to the Black Book value. Tech package, upgraded leather, sound system, air suspension, pano roof, etc....All apparently have no value in the trade-in value calculations! Having a single optioned car would have every car based on a single price and significantly help resale value when it comes to the $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000+ options most buyers add.

Of course options are never very good on resale and of course, Black Book is not reality especially on a car like Tesla (too new and small numbers).

And of course, the best resale is a lightly optioned vehicle - this is factored in with the leasing and guaranteed resale numbers.

Tesla does have a limited history of revamp and then change it up a few days later. I'm thinking of the increase in price of the D from $4k to $5k so it is best to order right after a revamp but not confirm right away.

I just emailed my DS about adding Premium since it is now an option with some value

I also noticed that silver 21" wheel option is not available. It's quite possible we're in the middle of another site re-vamp. I find it hard to believe they'd get rid of the silver 21" wheels but continue to offer the darker-coloured 21" wheels

Of course options are never very good on resale and of course, Black Book is not reality especially on a car like Tesla (too new and small numbers).

And of course, the best resale is a lightly optioned vehicle - this is factored in with the leasing and guaranteed resale numbers.

Tesla does have a limited history of revamp and then change it up a few days later. I'm thinking of the increase in price of the D from $4k to $5k so it is best to order right after a revamp but not confirm right away.

I just emailed my DS about adding Premium since it is now an option with some value

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I disagree with that. "The best resale is a lightly optioned vehicle" might be true for a Honda or Toyota but try selling a used car for $60K+ without the tech package, sunroof, or even leather. Poorly optioned premiums cars take a big hit when they are sold used as buyers in that segment "expect" cars to be appropriately optioned. You might save $2500 not getting the pano roof but you may loose $4,000 when you sell it because few wanted to consider even buying an expensive car without a sunroof. Same for the Tech Package...

Even though the 85D doesn't accelerate as fast as the P85 in the dry, it accelerates faster in the wet, and doesn't weave all over the place when you plant your foot - it's perfectly stable under heavy acceleration. Not sure that has been made perfectly clear yet.

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My P85 doesn't "weave all over the place" when I plant my foot. Maybe you should have your alignment checked, especially your thrust angle.

Someone needs to confirm if the rear child seats include the power lift gate even if the premium package is not selected. Traditionally the rear child seats came with the button in the trunk to open the door and it might explain the price increase in the rear facing seat option.

Tesla apparently listened to all the bitching and complaining. Just noticed that the Premium packaged announced a couple of days ago for $5,000 has been reduced to $3,000. Certainly more reasonable when you add the previous cost of the Alcantara headliner and Nappa leather. Still not crazy about the liftgate being included in that package, but with Tesla's "round up to a $1,000" pricing philosophy for most items, the liftgate option alone, if they offered it separately, likely would have been a $1,000 option. So for another $2,000, you get better leather, better headline, lighting, etc...Pricing is more than reasonable when compared to previous prices for all of it.

I test drove a P85 and it was indeed a little squirrely when you floored it. I test drove a P85D recently and got none of that....totally rock solid. A huge improvement in my experience.

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As AmpedRealtor correctly points out the squirrely sensation is usually attributable to a bad alignment. I had this problem initially on my P85. A 4 wheel alignment totally resolved the issue. No doubt the AWD has some advantages in handling, but in this specific case it is misleading to suggest that the difference in handling during heavy acceleration is due to the different drivetrains.

I disagree with that. "The best resale is a lightly optioned vehicle" might be true for a Honda or Toyota but try selling a used car for $60K+ without the tech package, sunroof, or even leather. Poorly optioned premiums cars take a big hit when they are sold used as buyers in that segment "expect" cars to be appropriately optioned. You might save $2500 not getting the pano roof but you may loose $4,000 when you sell it because few wanted to consider even buying an expensive car without a sunroof. Same for the Tech Package...

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We will have to agree to disagree. And you will have to disagree with the basic resale value guarantee numbers.

I only got the pano roof because the price dropped. You might think a premium car deserves a sunroof but I don't. The only reason I paid $1500 is the added head room and I wanted the black headliner and I was worried what it would look like without the glass. I may never open it.

I had a 545 without a sunroof and I never regretted it.

The fact is a $55k used Model S would sell in a NY second and no one would care if there wasn't leather etc. There is a huge market for $55k electrics with a 265 mile range - there is not alternative. And in 2 years, a $40k lightly optioned S would sell in something less than a NY second if that exists.